Game apparatus.



No. 801,427. PATENTED OCT. 10, 1905. G. 0. WILSON.

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV.17. 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GAME APPARATUS.

No. 801,e2'7.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 10, 1905.

Application filed o e be 17, 1904. Serial No. 233,075.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that LGEoRen C. WILsoN,a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Game Apparatus; and 1 do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in game apparatus, and has for its object to provide a novel apparatus by which several persons together may play interesting games according to various rules.

The apparatus is especially intended for indoor games and is of a simple strong construction and so calculated and designed that it will occupy a very limited space in shipping and storing.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a top view of the game apparatus. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on the line a a of Fig. 1 with a shipping-box in dotted lines added. Fig. 3 is a top view of the apparatus with its cover I and funnelHremoved. Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line b I) of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a modification of Fig. 1 and adjoining parts. Fig. 6 is a side view of a cylindrical cup from which the balls maybe thrown into the apparatus proper.

Referring to the drawings by letters and figures of reference, A designates the main body of the apparatus, which consists of a preferablycube-shaped box,havingits base projected forward and divided into several compartments 1, 2, 3, and 4, into which balls are guided by the inclined tubes B, O, D, and E, leading from the side openings F of a chamber Gr, mounted about centrally in the main box A and'receiving through its open top balls J, thrown from the hand or from the cup K into the funnel H, which is placed loosely in the central opening of the cover I of the main box or casing A. The bottom L of said chamber G is fixed high enough to give the balls a considerable speed down the tubes B C D E, and it is highest in the middle, so that the balls are bound to roll into the tubes. In Fig. 5 the bottom L is merely concaved upward, and the chamber Gr may be cylindrical; but in the other views the chamber Gris rectangular or polygonal in horizontal section, and its bottom L is depressed in radial directions toward each tube on the lines M, with intermediate'ridges N, between which the balls roll, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

In playing the balls are thrown in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1, so that they descend with a spiral motion, as indicated by the arrow. To insure such motion, the fun: nel is provided at its inner edge with a spirally-disposed chute Q, into which the balls are thrown. Each player may have the right to turn the funnel in a position which he thinks will favor the result when he throws the balls.

The balls may be of any desired color and number and may be thrown in one or several at a time,according to the many difierent rules of playing, which need not be here described. The following pointers may, however, be here given.

Supposing there are four players, then each of them chooses one of the pockets 1 2 3 las his. He throws in four balls (regardless of their color) one or more at a time, as he may choose. If no ball rolls into his pocket, he deducts one from his record. Every ball rolling into his pocket adds one to his record, and if two or three balls from one throw rolls into his pocket he has the right to play two or three times again before any one else, while if only one ball gets in the pocket the next person plays, and so on with all the players. The first one to get the predetermined number of balls to his record has won the game. No ball loses one from record, and the player is out that time. Only one ball also puts the player out unless otherwise agreed at the start of the game. Another way is that each player chooses his color of ball-say, black,white, blue, and pink. throws in all the balls at one time after shaking the cup to mix them. The ball coming out first into the pocket wins for its owner the agreed prize, (like the first horse in a horserace.) The winning player plays next, and the first ball counts for its owner, and so on until a certain number of throws have been made,when the records are footed up and the real or imaginary amount deposited equally by all the players at the start is divided into unequal prizes according to the records of the racing horses, as this game may be called.

In shipping or otherwise when the balls are not in use they may be kept in a special deep pocket R in the corner of the apparatus, and in boxing the apparatus the cup K is put into the funnel H, and then both are held in the position shown in dotted lines H and K in Fig. 2 by the side S of the shipping or packing box (indicated in dotted lines S S S S*) as being of the smallest possible size to contain the main chamber A with its pockets 1 2 3 a.

T represents projections or feet upon the sides of the funnel to hold it in proper upright position.

Ihe apparatus may be made from Wood, cardboard, tin, sheet-iron, or any other suitable materials, and the number of pockets, tubes, and sides to the inner chamber G, as Well as the outer or main chamber, may be varied without limitation.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a game apparatus, the combination with a suitable base, of a plurality of pockets at the front of same, an elevated chamber rearward of the pockets, a series of tubes or duct-s extending at an incline from apertures in the lower part of the chamber and down into the pockets, the bottom of said chamber being highest in the middle, balls adapted to be thrown into the chamber and spread by the bottom into the tubes, a funnel arranged above the chamber and a curved inclined chute in the funnel adapted to give a spiral motion to the balls.

2. In a game apparatus, the combination with a suitable base, of a plurality of pockets at the front of same, an elevated chamber rearward of the pockets, a series of tubes or ducts extending at an incline from apertures in the lower part of the chamber and down into the pockets, the bottom of said chamber being highest in the middle, balls adapted to be thrown into the chamber and spread by the bottom into the tubes, a funnel arranged above the chamber, and an inclined curved chute or guide in the funnel adapted to so coact with the funnel as to give a spiral motion to the balls.

In testimony whereof I afiiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE 0; WILSON. Witnesses:

A. M. CARLsEN, D. E. OARLsEN. 

